It's getting really bad in my opinion.

I use ublock and other widgets to give a me a "clean" slate every time I go to YouTube. The first things you see are all the "high engagement" (Of course not high-quality") stuff. YouTube's algorithm (and most other ones I assume) push this stuff in front of you because it fuckin' hates you and think its userbase are nothing but braindead zombies. They know people will "engage" with it so they shove in the front.

They think the average user is stupid and puts stupid things in front of them. It's almost out of a mid 90's sci-fi movie, but these MEGACORPS really do whatever the market responds to with zero thought of anything other than ad-revenue and time on platform. It's almost boring how plain and straightforward the reason is.

Modern "platform services" paradigms really do feed off the rot they create. I hate it so much, and my tech background tells me they are cooking up new ways to make it 420^69% worse.

The algorithm still adapts to you a bit thanks to googles absolutely disgusting practices like ip tracking, device identifier tracking, and other methods of fingerprinting (which is probably why you still got leftist content)

This is what makes it truly insidious. You reset it a bit because they see you as a potential new user. From their perspective: did someone move into your house? Did you give a family member your old device? Etc

I work in mental health and the amount of people I’ve seen that have had their families completely divided by this shit over the past 10 years is disgraceful and disgusting, especially when you consider the above. They prey on you giving your old ipad to your mom or your kid to send them down the red pill hellhole and don’t give a shit that itll eventually cause a major rift in your family that is potentially irreconcilable. It gets them ad impressions.

It's pretty much a given that if you listen to any podcasts, podcast clips, or comedy clips it will push you into the Joe Rogan pipeline. If you watch any streamers of anything, it will push you into political streamers and then to the guy who looks like an Edvard Munch painting and destiny, H3.

On the other hand, the algorithm is also bad for everything else. I watch one craft video and suddenly it's all striver maker small business etsy shit. The algo has no chill, it's 0-100 instantly.

Meanwhile, reddit just showed me a colorized version of a Goebbels speec. No commentary. No context. Just updated nazi propaganda

I do this too and it's distressing seeing the consent building machine at work. In my local context it offers a lot of alt right, male rightwinger and war hawk content by clearly well funded but not mainstream ghouls. All male panels and also lots of religious and conspiracy stuff. No left wing content here as far as I've seen.

These come up no matter what sort of gardening or houseplant care video I am watching, it seems to push the reactionary stuff everywhere if using it anonymously.

YouTube is full of interesting content, but you have to search it like with a laser. Suggested content is crap and repetitive.

have to constantly block channels from suggestions.

Brother, it’s been like this for eons, did you glance over all the real crime analytics and Indians shitting in the street videos?

Blocktube addon for firefox makes youtube so much better. I got it last year (maybe the year before) to block all the "middle aged man rages out at disney movie for little girls" content, but obviously it's also good for blocking everything else you don't like on there.

I have blocked 464 channels, and found more channels I actually want to watch because I've cleared out the trash.

Am I mistaking it for Zucc and facebook, but didn't youtube also say that with Trump winning they were welcoming back shit like fake news and racism on their platform?

it just feeds me news about china from mostly pro china sources and ads for iqiyi and viki now and you know what, im okay with that